Windstream CEO Pledges Georgia Commitments to House Republican

Since Thomas took over as CEO in December 2014, “we have worked tirelessly on a comprehensive overhaul of the entire company’s network and processes,” Thomas told Collins in a letter Monday. “Windstream is on a different strategic path today and we have already made significant progress in Georgia and the Ninth Congressional District. This progress comes despite the rural nature of the area, which makes it physically and economically challenging to deliver high-speed Internet and voice services.” He included tables showing Windstream’s “strong record of investment” in Georgia and specifically Collins' 9th district. The tables include projected 2016 figures of $38 million going to Georgia, with 95 percent of funds going toward speed capabilities listed at 3 Mbps-plus, 84 percent to 10 Mbps-plus and 48 percent going to 20 Mbps-plus. Those percentages are all higher than the breakdown for 2015’s $63 million. “In recent years in the Ninth District and Georgia as a whole, we have converted nearly all of our middle mile plant to fiber and upgraded the electronics to work with these new fiber facilities,” said Thomas. “As a result, 97 percent of the customers in your district are now served by a fiber-fed node for their broadband, which will eliminate back-haul congestion. With this investment and our upgraded plant, we now offer faster speeds (10-100 Mbps) to 77 percent of the locations we serve in the Ninth Congressional District.” Thomas cited work on 53 more sites in the first 56 days of 2016 in Georgia’s 9th district. “As these efforts continue, we will end 2016 with fewer than two percent of our customers served by middle mile copper facilities and 86 percent of households in your district capable of receiving 10 Mbps or faster high-speed Internet service,” Thomas said. He cited three initiatives for north Georgia, focused on better communication to customers, local leadership and a rapid response team. “I will establish a team, based in Cornelia, to respond specifically to any Ninth District customers who contact your office,” Thomas assured Collins, repeating an earlier invitation for a meeting by phone or in person. Collins dismissed Windstream's response as "more of the same," in a statement Monday. "I appreciate the establishment of a ‘rapid response team’ in Cornelia, but this isn’t simply an issue of poor customer service," Collins said. "As a recipient of federal funding, and preferred tax status, Windstream is accountable to Congress, and their customers in Northeast Georgia, for their business practices. Customer service is not the problem -- I’ve talked to many qualified professionals who work for the company, who understand that the real problems are with woefully inadequate infrastructure. Windstream can establish all the hotline phone numbers they want, but until they take their responsibility to rural communities seriously, I will continue to hold them accountable for how they spend federal funding."